Unions and the next mayor: Letters to the Editor for Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013

Re "New leadership for L.A.: Wendy Greuel represents the best of the top candidates" (Editorial, Feb. 10):

Your endorsement of Wendy Greuel for mayor is wrong. She is endorsed by the same unions that put Antonio Villaraigosa in office. Greuel will be under the thumb of the unions and will cave in to them. She will not get the city budget under control because of the unions. Kevin James is not endorsed by the unions and will get the city budget on track.

- Thomas R. Nelson, Granada Hills

An enemy is an enemy

Re "Lawmakers test legal waters for regulating drones" (Feb. 9):

So after years of neglect, Congress is considering setting up a type of foreign intelligence surveillance court to review the conduct of drone strikes. It seems our lawmakers are having a problem with our enemies' citizenship. To be clear, any person who renounces U.S. citizenship and joins a group with whom we are at war is a legitimate target. It was, after all, President Lincoln who authorized the targeting of more than 200,000 Americans who joined the confederacy. We certainly don't need Congress or the judiciary to start prosecuting our wars.

- Richard Buratti, Northridge

Cruelty to animals a warning sign

Gun safety is in the spotlight. However, warning signs of future violent behavior can be detected and successfully treated with early intervention. One such warning sign is cruelty to animals. Deriving pleasure from causing an animal pain can be observed even in young children. As most children are not born violent, such behavior towards an animal is abnormal and indicative of a problem in the home that is either directed at or witnessed by the child. Untreated, desensitization to suffering will continue and the infliction of pain used as a means of empowerment. To that end the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles hosts programs ranging from court-mandated sentencing for convicted juveniles to "at risk" youth classes in schools. The earlier the warning signs are heeded, the greater the chances of successful intervention and the abatement of future violent behavior. I'm often told by parents, "It's just a dog. Be happy it's not a person." Next time it will be.

- Madeline Bernstein, Los AngelesThe letter writer is president of the Los Angeles chapter of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Stop school reform for reform's sake

Re "Group targets L.A. school for takeover" (Feb. 4):

Some public schools need to be reformed and some need protection. Arleta High School is one of the latter. Proposition 39, approved by voters in 2000, requires school districts to make facilities available to private charter schools, creating a destructive situation. Los Angeles Unified identified Arleta as a colocation site for a Youth Policy Institute charter school. Arleta is housed in a three-story building; a charter would take up five classrooms on one of the floors. There is no way to create a boundary between the Arleta students and YPI students, yet this charter school would be a totally separate school on our campus with its own bell schedules, calendars, rules, policies and administrators. Arleta has a stellar reputation. We are lauded by LAUSD administrators for our clean and orderly campus, our high graduation rates and our friendly but academic culture. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy even tweeted about our graduation ceremony being the "gold standard" for other schools. Arleta's test scores are improving; our API score jumped 34 points last year. Sharing Arleta's campus with a charter school will disrupt what has proven to be a successful school culture in a community that deserves to be protected against reform for reform's sake.